How you can help support foster families in Yuma County

Jessie’s Closet Foster Child Resource Center is raising awareness about the need of resources for Yuma County foster families.

“As a foster parent, I have received children from DCS (the Arizona Department of Child Safety) in the middle of the night with little more than the clothes on the child’s back,” said Rev. Clint Augustyn, a foster parent for more than ten years. “One of the first tasks is to take care of basic needs, without being concerned about reimbursement rates.

Rev. Augustyn, who is also Pastor of Desert Grace Community Church of the Nazarene in the Foothills, helped find Jessie’s Closet Foster Child Resource Center.

Augustyn notes that the center has expanded and added services consistently since it began in 2013. Last year, Jessie’s Closet moved into a larger space on Avenue A.

“Jessie’s Closet has been able to serve many more families since moving to town, in part because of the central location,” said Augustyn. “It has created some challenges, but has been well worth the effort.”

Jonah Maze is a Gila Ridge High School Junior who has been involved with scouting since the fourth grade and heard about the urgent needs while searching for an Eagle Scout project.

“I have met other scouts who are foster children and have had the opportunity to become friends with them,” said Maze, “This project stood out to me because I will be able to see the direct impact on people who I know personally and care about.”

“I’ve discovered that underwear is one of the most pressing and ongoing needs for Jessie’s Closet,” remarks Maze. The organization insists that all socks and underwear donated for foster children be brand new. Maze explains, “No one should have to wear someone else’s underwear.”

Augustyn added that a portion of Maze’s project will tackle the facility’s warehouse.”We have been overwhelmed by the amount of donations that have come into the closet over the past few months. We discovered that we really weren’t set up to efficiently process the incoming items.”

Maze intends to help rectify this challenge with a work day at the facility on Saturday, March 2 .

“My goal is to re-organize by providing shelving, sorting bins, and to help create a system for effective handling of donations,” he said. “This would create specific spaces for types of donations and allow the volunteers to know where to go to restock items in the foster care resource center or the thrift store side.”

Jonah is encouraging the community to drop off items to Jessie’s Closet or Desert Grace Community Church in the Foothills during business hours and invites those wanting to help, to bring items to the Black Bear Diner “Dine and Donate” event being held for Jessie’s Closet on February 12 from 4 to 8 pm.

Residents can bring items to 1590 S. Pacific Avenue in the Yuma Palms Center and Maze will be there in person to talk about his project and thank those who bring an item to share.

All sizes are needed and anything the community can give really helps.

“All of them … anything from toddler sizes up through early teen years. I know that the closet is currently low on some of the smaller sizes – but that all sizes are needed.”

“We are excited to be partnering with Jonah and that he has chosen this as his project,” adds Augustyn. “We look forward to celebrating his Eagle Scout Award with him!”